Parties differ in their plans around the Tipnis conflict

According to this Spanish language article published in Pagina Siete, “One of the main problems regarding the rights of indigenous peoples is that there is a historical imbalance between recognized and applied rights,” Several examples were given in this article:

—”Of the 58 claims for land titling filed in the Lowlands, only half were titled in favor of the claimant indigenous peoples. Thousands of other lawsuits remained unresolved.”

—“Another problem is the economic policy promoted by the State, which is based on indiscriminately extracting natural resources, many of them in indigenous territories, increasingly affecting their way of life.”

— “The expansion of the agricultural frontier in the country's Lowlands and the fires caused by this expansion are problems that have also become evident in recent times. Only in August of this year, of the 58 titled indigenous territories, 48 ​​have been affected by fires in areas of “high vulnerability.”

—”Despite the fact that the CPE specifies the right to self-determination of indigenous peoples in their territories, they are not taken into account.”

—”Other problems are the management of territories and the economic situation of indigenous peoples, who lack the necessary support to adapt their productive systems to the new climatic conditions, which is causing them to have to migrate to cities in order to survive (currently more than 60 % of the indigenous population has come to reside in cities). This, in turn, is causing the extinction of their culture and native languages ​​such as Baure, Cayubaba, Leco, Maropa, Moré or Pacahuara.”

Positions from 5 of the 7 candidates for the October 18 Presidential election in Bolivia are described in the article. None of the parties specifically mentioned the plans for megadams. Citizen Community (CC) is the party that specifically mentioned the Amazon: “In the Amazon we will promote sustainable productive alternatives free of deforestation, to live in harmony with nature, eliminating the regulations that allow the burning of forests and protected areas.” When asked about sustainability, MAS replied their plans for “Incorporation in the matrix of the Financial Law the bases for the gradual and sustained transformation of the extractivist logic towards a post-development economic model.”

Fires affected 52 protected areas in Bolivia

According to this Spanish-language article in Los Tiempos, “Forest fires and heat sources in Bolivia have affected more than 1,180,000 hectares of forests, grasslands and savannas to date. The damage includes 52 municipal, departmental and national protected areas, according to the latest report from the Authority for the Supervision and Social Control of Forests and Land (ABT).”

Madidi National Park is amongst the group of protected areas most affected.

Madidi identity

On September 21, 2020, Madidi National Park celebrated its 25th anniversary quietly.

In this Spanish-language opinion piece, Cecilia Chacon notes that “Thanks to the scientific expedition "Madidi identity", it has been possible to register to date: 5,535 species of plants, 1,633 species and subspecies of butterflies, 1,028 species of birds, 333 species of fish and several of them are potentially new species for science. Madidi is the “Madidi is the fourth most important tourist destination” in Bolivia, and is “at risk from the expansion of the agricultural frontier, oil activities or trafficking of wild fauna and flora.”

Bolivia burns again

According to this Spanish-language article, “On July 9, 2019, the Government of Evo Morales approved Supreme Decree 3973, which expanded the territory in which fire can be used to prepare the land for the new agricultural cycle.” The Interim President of Bolivia, Jeanine Áñez , recently tweeted: "In the next few hours we will have a declaration of emergency and the repeal of Evo's decree that authorized burning," promised the interim president of Bolivia, , via Twitter. "We are going to stop the fires," Alex Villca Limaco, spokesperson for the National Coordinator for the Defense of Indigenous Peasant Territories and Protected Areas of Bolivia (CONTIOCAP), subsequently raised concerns that this is not sufficient, citing the “package of incendiary regulations, including those approved by his government for the benefit of agro-industrialists and ranchers.”

This “ incendiary package" began with a pardon to those who started fires in forest areas and has been extended to allow the use of fire and supposedly controlled burning, "which in reality is not controlled at all". explains to DW Jhanisse Vaca Daza, co-founder and spokesperson of the citizen nonviolence movement Ríos de Pie, focused on the defense of environmental and civil rights in Bolivia.”

According to the article, “the COVID-19 pandemic adds tensions to disaster management because "this is a disease that affects the respiratory tract and that is the first thing that firefighters suffer: problems in their health due to the conditions in which they work without all the necessary equipment ”, underlines the co-founder of Ríos de Pie….Neither the Government nor civil society have yet requested international aid, but donations have been requested and received from Bolivians abroad.”

Of concern to activists is that “In Bolivia, agribusiness is the one that manages a large part of the economy and they have a lot of influence in all political parties….Until now, "no political candidate was talking about this issue.”

Poaching pressure mounts on jaguars, the Americas’ iconic big cat

According to this Mongabay article, “the estimated jaguar population in South America is around 1.95 jaguars per 100 square kilometers” with an estimated 12,845 jaguars in Bolivia. “Efforts to protect these animals range from national governments forming new protected areas, to transboundary projects such as the Jaguar 2030 Plan. Scientists are keen to raise the big cat’s conservation status on the IUCN Red List from near threatened to vulnerable.”

During the past 7 years, the trafficking of jaguars and their body parts by poachers has become a major threat to the species —700 jaguar parts seized in Bolivia alone in 2014. China is the main destination.

But the number of “cases stopped being counted in” Bolivia “in early 2019, as attention focused on environmental emergencies such as massive forest fires, as well as the political upheaval that led to a change of government, according to Ángela Núñez, a biologist specializing in jaguars who researches trafficking as part of Proyecto Operación Jaguar (Operation Jaguar Project) in Bolivia.

“Since 2014, we have seized around 700 fangs, including a seizure in China [of fangs] that originated from Bolivia,” Núñez says, emphasizing the need to continue monitoring this environmental crime. According to the Bolivian Ministry of Environment and Water, there have been more than 20 legal actions taken related to the illegal trafficking of fangs, with five of the cases resulting in criminal sentences.”

“Research conducted by the IUCN NL also found that the demand for jaguar parts in Bolivia began in 2013 and was advertised through radio stations and posters distributed in rural areas. Between 2014 and 2016, the trafficking problem was underway in earnest, with 300 jaguar parts found in 16 postal packages, 14 of them sent by Chinese citizens working in Bolivia.”

“The facts that link the trafficking of jaguar parts to Asia, particularly China, are sensitive, considering that the most affected countries, such as Bolivia and Suriname, have sought to diplomatically resolve the problem by establishing alliances with the Chinese community within their territories… “A study published in early June by the journal Conservation Biology examined the relationships between trafficking of wild cats and Chinese investments in South and Central America.. Among the main findings were that trafficking has been increasing and that the Chinese citizens involved in illegal activities don’t belong to the Asian communities already established in these countries, but are instead workers who travel to the Amazon to work on the megaprojects such as new dams and roads.”

“The libros rojos de la fauna silvestre (wildlife red books) of Bolivia, Venezuela and Ecuador — the national equivalents of the IUCN Red List — assess the jaguar populations in the Amazon as being vulnerable” However, “The lack of data in Bolivia is also evident, with many questions still unanswered: Where are the jaguars? How many are there? What spaces should be protected? According to Núñez from Proyecto Operación Jaguar, studies have focused mainly on two protected areas: Madidi and Kaa-Iya national parks in the Gran Chaco region. “Outside the protected areas, where the jaguar is most at risk, not many studies are carried out on the species,” she says….Operation Jaguar, an IUCN NL project carried out in Bolivia, Guyana and Suriname, aims to conserve the big cats by identifying the most vulnerable areas to focus on.”

“in Bolivia, Rob Wallace, a scientist who has studied jaguars for more than 20 years, highlights the Tambopata-Madidi transboundary landscape that encompasses natural areas in Peru (Tambopata National Reserve and Bahuaja-Sonene National Park) and Bolivia (Madidi National Park and Pilón Lajas Biosphere Reserve).”

“Since the beginning of 2000, together with colleagues Guido Ayala and María Viscarra, Wallace has carried out research using camera traps that revealed a density of 0.5 jaguars per 100 km2 in 2001. By 2008 the density was up to 2, and by 2014 between 5 and 6. Since then, however, hunters have put severe pressure on the species. In 2019, the scientists carried out new monitoring that will more reliably depict the big cat’s current situation.”

Women and indigenous people in Latin America, an obstacle course for life

A February 2020 report “Application of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention No. 169 of the ILO: Towards an inclusive, sustainable and fair future of the International Labor Organization” was cited in this Spanish language article, “Around 28 million men and 26 million women make up the indigenous population of Latin America and the Caribbean...Indigeneous people make up almost 30% of people living in extreme poverty.” More than 85% of indigeneous women “only find work in the informal economy.” “Only one in ten indigenous girls finishes secondary school in Latin America”

“Latin American indigenous women also face economic difficulties in accessing health services, according to the IACHR report that indicates that such social and economic exclusion entails permanent discrimination and makes them potential targets of violence.”

"In the area of ​​organizations that represent indigenous peoples there are also patriarchates, they want to shut you up," Ruth Alipaz, General Coordinator of the National Coordinator in Defense of Indigenous Peasant and Protected Areas of Bolivia, told DW. "Then there is the scope of the state apparatus: violation of rights, dispossession, looting of resources," she added, denouncing the harassment and criminalization suffered by indigenous women.”

Indigeneous women “have played a decisive role in the fight for the self-determination of their peoples and their rights as women.” They are” guarantors of culture” and contribute to “family sphere as well as in their communities, countries, and internationally.”

Indigenous people in Bolivia use technology to monitor and defend their territories during this pandemic

On August 29-30, the Center for Autonomous Territorial Planning (CPTA) conducted training on use of mobile devices for socio-environmental monitoring for representatives from the Multi-ethnic Indigenous Territory (TIM 1) and the Mojeño Ignaciano Indigenous Territory (TIMI) in the Beni. With this training, community members can collect, process, systematize and use information “to make timely decisions regarding…extractive and development activities of great impact that are carried out” and expected to expand further. These tools will help communities “respond to the current context in which indigenous peoples find themselves in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, the governance of their natural resources in the face of climate change, the exercise of their territorial rights through indigenous autonomy and territorial management and the defense of their rights in the face of high-impact activities that the State intends to develop in their territories.”

“The use of mobile phones, have helped” mobilize “organizations and” efforts “to defend the territories before the threats of fires, chaqueos, extractivism and the advance of illegal activities.”

“The indigeneous leader, Alex Villca, communication secretary of the Commonwealth of Indigenous Communities of the Beni Tuichi and Quiquibey Rivers, which represents 17 indigenous communities, including Tacanas, Tsimanes, Mosetenes”,…cautioned that there are “clear limitations in access to internet services” and that “indigenous sectors furthest from the cities” are most isolated digitally.

He further stated that "Technology must be an instrument that goes hand in hand with the actions we carry out as defenders of the environment. It is not taking many for indigenous peoples to adapt to these accelerated changes throughout the world, but little by little we are achieving …we must never get rid of our ancestral knowledge, but help ourselves with this technology to defend our rights.”

You can read the entire Spanish-language article here.

For South America’s wilderness areas, COVID-19 brings risk and respite

According to this Mongabay article, “a rise in illegal activities and plunge in tourism revenue are some of the problems that protected areas across Latin America are facing due to COVID-19 lockdown measures. Experts say the suspension in human activity marks a welcome break for the parks and a unique opportunity to carry out studies about the changes ecosystems are experiencing during this time.”

“The Bolivian government’s decision to close all national parks in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March was supposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus. But it’s also had unwanted consequences for the wildlife and for the financial viability of the very parks themselves, not just in Bolivia but across Latin America.

Within days of the March 16 announcement of the closure of all 22 protected areas across Bolivia, authorities seized a boat in Madidi National Park. On board, they found a shipment of fish caught illegally in the protected area and a tapir (Tapirus terrestrial), a species categorized as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

“The boat was intercepted. We are concerned that people from the surrounding communities may enter the national park to hunt and fish to supply their family with food,” said Marco Uzquiano, the director of Madidi National Park.”

Uzquiano said he feared this necessary closure was not enough to stop the criminal groups that profit from the illegal sale of wild plants and animals taken from within protected natural areas. The closure of protected areas by the Bolivian government is similar to measures adopted by most countries in the region to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Besides illegal activities, parks in Bolivia and elsewhere are suffering from a cut in revenue from tourist visits; in some countries, visitor receipts account for up to 40% of the parks’ annual budget. There is also uncertainty about the future of projects developed by Indigenous communities in both protected areas and buffer zones.”

Maikol Melgar, the executive director of Bolivia’s National Protected Areas Service (SERNAP) said there are only 300 park rangers overseeing surveillance of 22 protected natural areas throughout the country. Around 200 rangers were working inside the protected areas when the closure was ordered, and have remained quarantined there. The rest will remain in their homes for the duration of the closure.

For now, rangers only carry out patrols in emergencies. Otherwise, they operate checkpoints.

Melgar said he’s worried that the closure of protected areas could have an economic impact. He said revenue from tourist visits accounts for between 35% and 40% of the annual budget. “We still cannot quantify the impact because the duration of the closure is still uncertain, it can be a month, three months, or the whole year.”

According to Melgar, as the public treasury covers the needs of the outstanding personnel within the reserves, the situation is not yet critical from a financial standpoint. For this reason, they have not “thought about reducing personnel,” he added.

Madidi National Park’s Uzquiano said the ecotourism initiatives of communities living within the parks, as well as other community projects, will be impacted because they won’t generate income. “The Indigenous population will seek means to subsist. People will enter the park to carry out illegal activities,” he said. The government has not yet proposed any solutions.”

Mongabay also noted that “Beyond economic problems and threats…the coronavirus crisis allowed protected areas to rest, especially those ecosystems most frequented by tourists.”

“Nature returns to take its place as human activity shifts,” said Iván Arnold, the director of Bolivia’s Fundación Nativa, on the halt in activities. He called the respite an “irreplaceable and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to look at the changes that will occur in nature.”

“Arnold said this period can be treated as an experiment to assess what happens as protected natural areas across Latin America and the world shut down to human activity. “Sometimes nature gives us unthinkable lessons and this is one of them. A lesson and a call to change our way of acting. If we do not acknowledge that, other situations like this will arise,” he added, referring to the wildlife origins of the coronavirus.”

International Day of National Parks: three strategies to protect biodiversity

In this Spanish language article, Mongabay Latam highlights three examples in which sustainable use of natural resources has supported the economy of communities and helped protect the biodiversity of protected areas. Unfortunately, these community conservation strategies, have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis, which could have an adverse impact on conservation of biodiversity.

In Bolivia, Tacana communities that live in the Madidi National Park area commercialize, through a management program, caiman meat and leather.

“The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has put the normal development of these activities at risk. "If these types of alternatives are reduced, the vulnerability to wildlife trafficking may increase," says Guido Miranda, WCS Bolivia wildlife management coordinator.”

“Madidi National Park, in the Bolivian Amazon, is the most biodiverse natural area in the world. In their area of ​​influence or buffer, that is, the land belt that surrounds the park, the indigenous Tacanas communities commercialize the meat and leather of the lizard   ( Caiman yacare ) at the same time that they protect the species. Before starting the project for the sustainable use of the lizard, it was hunted illegally. Currently, management regulations allow strict control of the commercialization of this reptile. The lizard population that can be exploited is estimated at 3,884 individuals. The allowed extraction quota is 630 individuals per year and they can only be males to ensure the protection of females and reproduction. The meat of these animals is commercialized by the Tacana through alliances that they have established with supermarkets and restaurants and, although it is not known exactly what percentage of the communities' economy represents this activity, it is known that together with fishing, the hunting and logging is one of their main livelihoods. The hunting season is during the month of October, at the end of the dry season, so as not to interfere with the reproduction period of the species. This is how normally at this time the Tacana "are beginning to organize to make use of it," says Guido Miranda from WCS. However, the pandemic has changed plans.”

“Although Miranda points out that there are currently no COVID-19 infections in the Tacana communities, developing marketing activities can be very risky. According to the expert, in Rurrenabaque - a city that the Tacana use as a point of operations for the commercialization of lizard meat and which is at the entrance of Madidi - cases of COVID-19 have begun to appear. In addition, the Tacana communities "are very small towns and if there is an outbreak it can be devastating," says Miranda. For the expert, the situation is worrying, since "if people do not have access to this type of sustainable management initiatives, this can have repercussions on the unsustainable use of other resources that can be obtained in the area, such as wood." Likewise, "the vulnerability to wildlife trafficking - including animals that are in danger of extinction - may increase," adds Miranda. That is why the communities are evaluating together with the authorities the possibility of rescheduling the hunting season for when the risk of contagion by COVID-19 has decreased. According to Miranda, the possibilities would be between the months of November, December and January.”

The Amazon, threatened by illegal wildlife and timber trafficking

“Greed for jaguar tusks, trafficking of turtles across borders or trade in wood from endangered trees are some of the crimes against the environment in the Andes-Amazon region. Addressing them requires cooperation between sectors and countries.”

“Marcos Uzquiano, then acting director of the Madidi National Park, Bolivia, posing as a merchant of jaguar tusks, went on time to the appointment with a Chinese buyer, set at a terminal in the north of the country. He showed her his merchandise. "This is garbage." Marcos asked him what he wanted. The Chinese buyer took real fangs out of his backpack.

Marcos said he was going to get what I asked for. That he was coming back. They separated. Marcos notified the police, who, given the evidence, detained the businessman. From this first case, Marcos, today head of protection of the Pilón Lajas Community Land and Biosphere Reserve, discovered “a network of micro-traffickers”. It reached the person who collected the tusks in San Borja and sent them to a "chief" in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, who shipped them to China.

They stalk the jaguar. Since 2014, 786 tusks have been seized in Bolivia, representing the death of at least 197 individuals. Marcos believes that the problem continues, but now the traffickers are taking better care of themselves.”

Not only jaguars are at risk. “Monkeys, birds and reptiles, taken from their environments and trafficked, alive or in parts, as pets, ornament, medicine or for consumption in national and international illegal markets….As with other crimes, traffickers take advantage of the fragility of borders to illegally transport wildlife species.”

“In the case of timber trafficking, the dynamics is similar in the countries of the region. Miguel Pacheco, natural resources coordinator at WWF Colombia, explains that, normally, a person finances the preparation of a technical document to take advantage of wood in authorized areas. They can be peasant or indigenous territories. However, once said safe conduct is obtained, it is used as a blank check to remove wood from prohibited places…Traffickers take advantage of this situation to mobilize protected species, even in large volumes.”

“The companies dedicated to the illegal commercialization of wood are not registered in tax or social security systems and their costs are lower. We assume that the impact of informal activities in the domestic market is around 30% ”, says Jorge Ávila, general manager of the Bolivian Forestry Chamber.”

“Crimes against fauna and forests are not isolated events: they tend to be linked to other illicit acts, such as arms and drug trafficking, which occur within the framework of phenomena such as corruption, institutional weakness, lack of awareness, and low specialization in dealing with them. or lack of economic alternatives for the population in areas of greater biodiversity. The impacts of these crimes range from economic, public health, loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services to national security, which can be undermined; without forgetting the social: human communities constantly threatened by the entry of criminal networks into their territories.

Traffic dynamics need to be better understood to formulate more effective strategies and policies. In 2019, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), supported by the European Union, formed the Alliance for Wildlife and Forests, which seeks to boost civil society engagement in law enforcement and cooperation with and between the authorities of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and the two tri-borders: Brazil - Colombia - Peru and Bolivia - Brazil - Peru.

“Our countries must strengthen collaborative actions to combat wildlife and timber trafficking, through a process that involves authorities and civil society. The overexploitation of resources, often motivated by illegal actions such as the trafficking of species, breaks the natural balance causing consequences such as the extinction of species and even the emergence of new diseases, ”says Yovana Murillo, director of the Alliance for Wild Fauna and Forests.”

You can access the original Spanish language article with short video here.